“We see these beautiful pictures at night from the decks of these two U.S. Navy vessels in the eastern Mediterranean. I am tempted to quote the great Leonard Cohen,” he said. “I’m guided by the beauty of our weapons.”

“They are beautiful pictures of fearsome armaments making what is for them a brief flight over this airfield. What did they hit?” Williams asked.

Williams said he was in a helicopter in Iraq that was shot with a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) and AK-47 fire. A soldier who was actually in the helicopter later revealed Williams wasn’t in the helicopter which was under fire. Williams was forced to admit his “mistake.”

Despite the disgust with which many reacted to his celebration of destruction, Williams’ sentiments were echoed by many in Washington and among the establishment media.

Williams works for MSNBC, part of NBCUniversal which is owned by Comcast. MSNBC fired its host Phil Donahue in 2003 seemingly because he wasn’t supportive of the Iraq war.

A leaked internal memo explained why he would be a “difficult public face for NBC in a time of war…. He seems to delight in presenting guests who are anti-war, anti-Bush and skeptical of the administration’s motives.”